Mischief, a major preoccupation of the human mind has been perfected by
government and its people in Nigeria. This clearly manifests in the
hidden tones of most government policies and pronouncements concerning
the Niger Delta. The “constructive engagement” proposal of subjecting
youths of the region into armed limited company aimed at safeguarding
oil installation for more revenue for Nigeria is a clear case.

This interesting line of thinking was disclosed when the Defense
Minister, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed told the House of Representatives
Committee on Defense that for the sake of lasting peace in the troubled
oil-producing region, the Federal Government was considering engaging
the services of the militants to police the oil and installations and
pipelines to check vandalism.

His
words: “We will engage them (militants) to police the oil pipelines. But
they must first form themselves into limited liability companies for us
to discuss with them. This will check the activities of even oil
companies who cleverly engage in oil bunkering.

“The proposal is for the transformation of militants groups in the
region into limited liability companies for the monitoring of pipeline
vandalisms.”

“We
are mainly concerned now with the pipeline vandalisation and survey has
been conducted on how other countries have done it and this would
require deeper analysis.

But
on the kidnap cases, the minister said “the Niger Delta states needed to
demonstrate the political will to punish offenders while enjoying the
backing of the federal government.

“We
have discussed with the governments of the states and right now from
what we have discovered of recent, we are going to hold a meeting with
the Rivers state government in whose state the incident of kidnapping
has become a source of concern. I believe that Mr. President is on top
of this and he is wading in.”

The
Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) aptly described
the government’s plan to employ militants as consultants to police oil
pipelines and other installations as laughable. However, the
organization’s comment on the federal government’s mindset was even more
laughable.

“The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) rejects the
desperate and laughable proposal offered by the Nigerian Government
through its Minister of Defense that militant groups should convert to
limited liability companies and be contracted to police the pipelines in
the Niger Delta region.”

What is MEND’s business in the vandalisation of oil pipelines and
hostage taking for monetary gains by criminals? The Movement, except
they have been deceiving the people, is supposed to be purely a pressure
group bent on bringing the federal government to a negotiating table. Or
is it a criminal gang that ruptures oil pipelines to siphon either
refined products or raw crude oil for sale? God forbid.

Question for the federal government: There are more cases of pipeline
vandalisation in the Abia- Enugu flank of the PPMC pipeline route system
and the Lagos- Ogun flank than in the Niger Delta whether core or
peripheral. Is the federal government saying that the cases of pipeline
tapping or destructions across the country were carried out by Niger
Delta militants?

Nigerians would want to know if the Niger Delta Militants Company
Nigeria Limited will be charged with the protection of pipelines outside
the region or are we expecting other regional vandals’ companies
incorporated?

One
virtually media ignored and unreported development in the country is the
fact that there have been far more recorded cases of kidnapping/hostage
taking in the south east particularly Abia state that all the recorded
cases in the entire Niger Delta. In the affected areas, the attraction
is purely economic and to settle political scores. Anyway, this is just
an information to the Defense Minister.

MEND actually got the
description right by saying it was a mere joke or rather a careless talk
by the Defense Minister.

From obvious
indications, the minister does not understand the meaning of the term
militancy. These are people who have vowed to disrupt the status quo
ante by violent means or dialogue depending on the disposition of the
structure they are opposing.

As was aptly capture
by a concerned Nigeria, the defense minister’s proposal was an
expression of the federal government’s complete lack of vision and
direction on the matter. If this is the mindset of everybody in
Yar’Adua’s cabinet, then obviously there is leadership vacuum in
Nigeria.

President Yar’Adua aptly painted the picture of the situation in the
Niger Delta in his comment a recent interview with a foreign media. He
agreed that the Niger Delta problem is a problem where there are lots of
interests, and lots of criminalities.

However, he failed to add that the covert interests and criminality of
people in and around Government especially the Abuja government far
outweighs any other interest and oil-related criminal acts that is going
on in the Niger Delta. And that the insincerity of government in
negotiating a workable solution to the agitation, every day has helped
the struggle to grow in organization, sophistication and determination
and has even helped the agitation to look more attractive to hitherto
uninterested youths of the region and even mercenaries from other
regions.

Niger Delta people would want to know any serious step by the federal
government to address some of the issues in the conflict. None! And I
mean not a single one rather it is coming up with a proposal of
subjecting youths of the region into armed limited company aimed at
safeguarding oil installation for more revenue for
Nigeria.

TO
enable a comprehensive packaging of the Article of Association or rather
a Memorandum of Understanding for the proposed Niger Delta Militants
Nigeria Limited, the Federal Government needs to clarify certain crucial
issues.

First, how is the company going to be registered by the Corporate
Affairs Commission- as a private militant business or a government
parastatal/agency?

For
effective policing of oil pipelines and other installations, will the
militants be armed by the federal government or they will be allowed to
continue to procure their arms and ammunitions?

Supposing the federal government will arm the staff of the militants
company for effective community or rather oil facilities’ policing, how
are they going to operate- like the police, vigilante or other armed
forces?

The
federal government would be surprised to know that everybody- old and
young, men and women, in the Niger Delta is a militant dormant or
active. If they are not directly involved in arms struggle now, they
provide sympathy and support services to the active youths in arms.

IFEANYI IZEZE IS AN
ABUJA-BASED CONSULTANT OF POLITICAL STRATEGY AND GRASSROOT CONSULTATION
(iizeze@yahoo.com)